Posts Tagged: kids activities

In this paper project, Roxie will show you how to fold origami paper boats… and maybe, like her, you’ll make nearly 100 of them! She entered some of her paper boats into the hobby collections for the Winneshiek County Fair this summer, and she got a first place ribbon! She was so excited. We wanted to show off her skills this fall with the Inspire(d) Paper Project! Use your boats as place cards at Thanksgiving or make a fleet like Roxie did as a fun activity on a cool day!

Supplies:8.5 x 11 paper sheet (or any rectangle piece of paper of most any size)

1. Take an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper and fold it in half.

2. Fold in half again.

3. Open it back up and then, with the crease at the bottom, fold the corners in to the crease (like you’re making a paper airplane).

4. Fold the top piece of excess paper over the folded corners.

5. Flip the paper over and fold the excess corners over the back.

6. Fold the facing corner in as well.

7. Repeat on the other side.

8. Now fold the excess bottom up over the boat (it’ll look like a little hat).

9. Grab the two middle points and open the hat like a pocket – keep opening, then flatten…it’ll be a diamond shape now.

10. With the open pieces facing you, fold the top piece up to the tip.

11. Flip it over and do the same on the opposite side.

12. Open the pocket again (the same way you did before), and make another (now smaller) diamond.

13. With the open part of the diamond facing up, pinch the two pieces on each side of the point.

14. Pull those parts open, and the boat will start to form. It might not open perfectly (like Roxie’s didn’t in the video at the top of the page), but once you pull it should flatten out to make the boat shape. Puff up the middle and adjust the sides to form the boat as you would like it to look, and you’re done! Enjoy!

Looking for a fun way to celebrate Earth Day (April 22) and look forward to spring? Make these adorable earth paper seed hearts!

Supplies:

– Silicone heart mold – you can also make round earths that you shape by hand if you don’t have a heart mold
– Seeds – we used some I saved from last fall – mostly marigolds
– Construction paper – we went with blue and green to look like earths, but you could use any colors you want
– Bowls (as many as you have colors)
– Sieve
– Food Processor (a blender would probably work too)

First, rip the paper into bits. We used about 16 pieces of paper total (a few more blue than green since we have more water than land on earth) for the 24 earth hearts. Keep the colors in separate bowls to keep the colors separate when they go into the molds. Do a few extra pieces if you want to make some round earths too!

Fill the bowls with water to cover the paper – mush them a bit to get the paper bits separated.

Let soak for at least two hours – overnight works too!

Time for the food processor!

We found that less is better with this (I’d put a few less pieces of paper in the processor than the photo shows), and make sure to have about an inch of water at the bottom. If the processor is not happy, take some paper out and add a little more water!

It will look like this.

And then like this.

Then move the paper clumps to the sieve. Squeeze out as much water as you can!

Repeat with all your colors!

We found it got a little messy, but hopefully our mistakes can be your gains!

Once you’ve processed your paper and squished the water out, it’s time to put them in the molds! You can piece bits in to look like little earths like we did. Fill the mold to about half, and push in the center to make a little divot for the seeds. Put a few seeds in the divot. Try to keep the seeds away from the edges.

Next push paper bits on top of the seeds, paying attention to connect the edges to the bottom section especially.

Once you’ve covered all the seeds, press down on each heart with a paper towel to squeeze out even more water.

We dried these over a heat vent – they took a couple of days to be completely dry. Once they are dry, carefully pop them out of the molds. I had a couple fall apart, but most were good.

Gift them to friends on Earth Day or anyway to plant this spring!

P.S. Roxie also made a round earth with this project, putting seeds in the center the same way! See below for inspiration! Enjoy!

Exploration, creativity, history – and a snack. It’s the perfect combination of things for the children and care-givers who head to Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum’s Barnetimen (Norwegian for “children’s hour”).

The collaborative effort of Jennifer Kovarik of Vesterheim and Decorah’s ArtHaus director and instructor Shannon Dallenbach Durbin, Barnetimen creates space for children to interact, play, create, and learn.

Held from 10-11 am on the third Tuesday of every month, each themed event utilizes the museum’s rotating and permanent exhibits. Activities are geared toward children ages 3-5, along with their parents or adult supervisor, and sessions are free of charge and open to the public with no sign-up needed.

Decorah resident Brenda Carlson helped conceive the idea of Barnetimen back in the early 2000s as a means of involving younger families with the museum. Carlson felt that Vesterheim, one of Decorah’s most iconic attractions, had a lot to offer young children in their development.

The partnership between ArtHaus and Vesterheim began in 2010, expanding upon Barnetimen’s original concept to include an interactive, artistic component. The program continues to grow today, with regular attendance of about 30-40 children per session along with their parents, grandparents, friends, and teachers.

Barnetimen’s coordinators love the energy and wonder children bring to the museum.

“Going to a museum should be fun, and you should have some ‘wow’ moments,” says Kovarik, Youth Educator at Vesterheim. “Children aren’t afraid to have ‘wow’ moments or fun out loud.”

The 2017-2018 Barnetimen season kicked off Tuesday, September 19, 2017 with Symbols and Shapes.

Kovarik says the goal of Barnetimen is to, “help kids become mini-explorers who know how to seek out interesting objects and use what they see or find to make something new and creative.” And Vesterheim is the perfect place to do just this – like in Vesterheim’s ship gallery, where children can learn about the many different vessels used to cross the Atlantic, like the “Tradewind,” a boat sailed by two Norwegian brothers across the Atlantic in 1933. The whole 25-foot sailboat sits inside a large room in Vesterheim!

Be sure to bring your own explorers to the Vesterheim lobby at 10 am for some exciting “wow” museum moments!

With world-class exhibitions and 12 historic buildings in scenic Decorah, Iowa, Vesterheim, the national Norwegian-American museum and heritage center, showcases the best in historic and contemporary Norwegian folk and fine arts, and explores the American immigrant experience. This national treasure is also a center for folk-art education, offering a wide variety of classes in authentic Norwegian folk art every year. For more information on the museum’s exhibitions, classes, events, membership opportunities, and ways to donate, check Vesterheim’s website at vesterheim.org, call (563) 382-9681, or write to Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum,502 W. Water St., P.O. Box 379, Decorah, IA, 52101-0379.

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Barnetimen sessions are held on the third Tuesday of the month, and begin at 10 a.m. and last an hour. The 2017-2018 dates and themes are: